Hydrophilic polyurethane structures and methods of using the same

ABSTRACT

Fiber supports include a base and hydrophilic polyurethane foam that directly contacts the fibers while being elastic and flexible for reshaping. Hydrophilic polyurethane foam has a density to hold over nineteen times its weight in liquids that absorb into the fibers in direct contact with the foam over time. Supports may be any shape or size, and may be rigid or flexible. Cylindrical shapes are useable to permit winding, curling, or spiraling of fibers about the support. The fibers are directly affixed to the foam for support and shaping. A clasp may be clamped or snapped over the fibers and foam support to compress the two directly together. If the support is flexible, the foam may be reshaped with the fibers, holding the shape during wearing or drying. During such wearing or drying, liquid held in the foam may be absorbed directly into the fiber, resulting in favorable chemical treatment.

BACKGROUND

Polyurethane is a common material found in a variety of consumer products owing to its versatile physical and chemical characteristics. Particularly, flexible polyurethane materials are often employed in human-based fields, including ergonomic, clothing, medical, and cosmetic applications, due to their softness and ability to be molded and elastically compress against the body for support and cover. Polyurethanes can be manufactured or cleansed to be generally odorless and nontoxic when fixed in solid forms at body temperatures, furthering their favorability for human interactions.

For example, flexible polyurethane of varying densities is used as packaging, bedding and furniture cushioning, footwear, grips, spandex, bands and wraps, helmets, etc. Because conventional polyurethane is water-resistant, it can also be used for insulation, flotation, and boat pieces, owing to its hydrophobic nature. Several different methods of fabricating polyurethane to desired density and stiffness are known and relatively easily achieved for these purposes. For example, in the instance of a flexible polyurethane foam, polyol and isocyanate streams may be mixed with a blowing agent or agitators that creates a foam that can be shaped by blowing it into a mold or cutting it into a desired shape.

SUMMARY

Example embodiments support structures to which natural or artificial fibers can be directly affixed including a base supporting a hydrophilic polyurethane foam that directly contacts the fibers and is elastic/nondestructively moveable and/or compressible. The hydrophilic polyurethane foam has a density to hold over nineteen times its weight in liquids while being flexible and resilient. The liquid may be retained in cellular or polymeric spaces while eluting solutes or exuding the liquid into the fibers in direct contact with the foam over time. For example, if the fibers are organic hair, a conditioner or vitamin-bearing oil like a vitamin-E-infused grapeseed oil, may be retained in and absorbed from the foam by the hair that is affixed to the same. Example embodiment supports may be any shape or size, and may be rigid or flexible. For example, supports may include a rigid but re-shapeable wire or tube that holds the support in any desired shape, as well as the flexible foam and fibers affixed thereto. In the instance of a cylindrical shape, the roller may extend up to a foot or more in length with a diameter of 0.25 or more inches to permit winding, curling, or spiraling of fibers about the support.

Example methods include treating and shaping natural or artificial fibers with a hydrophilic polyurethane foam support. In example methods, the fibers are affixing directly to the foam, which supports the same, such as by winding or tying the fibers to the polyurethane foam support. Additionally, a clasp may be clamped or snapped over the fibers and foam support to compress the two directly together, potentially enhancing the absorption of liquid held in the foam by the fibers. If the support is flexible, the foam may be reshaped without failure, potentially with the fibers, and hold the shape during wearing and/or drying. In the example of human hair, the hair may absorb a conditioner or fragrance in a liquid held by the foam while drying.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments will become more apparent by describing, in detail, the attached drawings, wherein like elements are represented by like reference numerals, which are given by way of illustration only and thus do not limit the example embodiments herein.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example embodiment roller using a hydrophilic polyurethane foam.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the example embodiment roller of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of another example embodiment roller using a hydrophilic polyurethane foam.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example embodiment clasp useable with a roller.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example method of affixing fibers with an example embodiment system of a hydrophilic polyurethane foam roller with clasp.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This is a patent document, and general broad rules of construction should be applied when reading it. Everything described and shown in this document is an example of subject matter falling within the scope of the claims, appended below. Any specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely for purposes of describing how to make and use example embodiments. Several different embodiments not specifically disclosed herein may fall within the claim scope; as such, the claims may be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to only example embodiments set forth herein.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that when element(s) are referred to in relation to one another, such as being “connected,” “coupled,” “mated,” “attached,” or “fixed” to another element(s), the relationship can be direct or with other intervening elements. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). Similarly, a term such as “connected” for communications purposes includes all variations of information exchange routes between two devices, including intermediary devices, networks, etc., connected wirelessly or not.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an,” and “the” are intended to include both the singular and plural forms, unless the language explicitly indicates otherwise with terms like “only a single element.” It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, values, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not themselves preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, values, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should also be noted that the structures and operations discussed below may occur out of the order described and/or noted in the figures. For example, two operations and/or figures shown in succession may in fact be executed concurrently or may be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Similarly, individual operations within example methods described below may be executed repetitively, individually or sequentially, so as to provide looping or other series of operations. It should be presumed that any embodiment having features and functionality described below, in any workable combination, falls within the scope of example embodiments.

The Inventor has recognized that existing foams used in fiber treatment, such as fabric, cloth, and/or hair arrangement and shaping, are conventional hydrophobic foams that purposefully resist water and thus easily dry for use in air or heated drying. The Inventor has further recognized that such existing hydrophobic foams do not, or only poorly carry, useful treatments for fiber contacting the same, including carrier liquids for conditioning, fragrancing, medicating, and/or repairing the same. The typical hydrophobic polyurethanes, while typically being inexpensive to manufacture and structurally rigid for support purposes, do not provide resilient shaping and restructuring of supporting rollers bearing the foam into multiple shapes. Example embodiments described below uniquely solve these and other newly-recognized problems by providing flexible and/or resilient rollers to support and shape fiber, like hair, while bearing desired chemical treatment through highly absorbent hydrophilic polyurethane foam.

The present invention is structures bearing hydrophilic polyurethane foam surfaces and methods of using the same. In contrast to the present invention, the few example embodiments and example methods discussed below illustrate just a subset of the variety of different configurations that can be used as and/or in connection with the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example embodiment roller 10 for use in supporting or winding fibers, such as human hair. Example embodiment roller 10 may be relatively elongated with caps 11 at either end and a layer or core of hydrophilic polyurethane foam 15 extending therebewteeen. Example embodiment roller 10 may be any size capable of supporting the fiber, such as a tress or strands of hair, and imparting desired spatiality, rotation, and/or other shapes. For example, roller 10 may be approximately a foot in length along its longest dimension and have a diameter or 0.25-1 inches for smaller curls, or about 1-3 inches for larger rotations of fiber wrapped around its axis.

Example embodiment roller 10 is bendable or flexible, in that it can be freely rotated about each of its shortest axes and/or elongated or compressed along its longest axis. For example, roller 10 may be fabricated with internals similar to those in U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,006 issued Sep. 10, 1985 to Collis, incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. As shown in FIG. 2, example embodiment roller 10 may include a base being an interior wire, pipe, or flexible tube 13 capable of being deformed at a threshold force but otherwise maintaining its shape. A resilient sheath 12 may give desired sizing and/or prevent over-rotation or plastic deformation of flexible tube 13 therein. In this way, a human user can manipulate roller 10 by hand into a desired shape, and example embodiment roller will maintain the position even with significant amount of fiber wrapped around or affixed thereon. Hydrophilic polyurethane foam 15 may be layered over sheath 12 in a continuous sheet and held thereon by endcaps 11. Or, for example, hydrophilic polyurethane foam 15 may be sprayed or molded directly on tube 13 and sheath 12.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of another example embodiment roller 20. Roller 20 may be fabricated with internals similar to those in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,060 issued Jan. 9, 1996 to Barradas, incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. As shown in FIG. 3, example roller 20 includes a rigid, cylindrical base with a hydrophilic polyurethane foam core or layer 15 applied between ends of base 21. Example embodiment roller 20, being non-flexible, may nonetheless use a flexible foam layer 15 and be useable in sets with multiple rollers having non-moveable structure to achieve uniform treatment of fiber, such as hair, wrapped around the same.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an example method of using example embodiment roller 10 in an example embodiment hair rolling system. Although not shown, similar methods may be used with example embodiment roller 20. As shown in FIG. 4, a clasp, fastener, or clamp 30 may be shaped to fit around an example embodiment roller with enough size to permit fiber to be wound on the roller. Clamp 30 may be rigid or flexible, including rigid or flexible plastic or mesh that fits over a roller such as example embodiment roller 10 or 20.

As seen in FIG. 5, fiber, thread, human hair, or other wire/string material 1 may be wound directly on example embodiment roller 10 or 20, in a desired spiral, curl, or flat shape. In the instance of flexible example embodiment roller 10, roller may be stretched or bent into a desired shape to set the affixed material, such as a U-shape seen in FIG. 5. Co-owned application Ser. No. ______ for HAIR ROLLER CLIP to Elitza D. Voeva-Kolev filed Dec. 28, 2016 having reference number 21.0003.D is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Clamp 30 may be snapped onto or otherwise affixed to example embodiment rollers 10 or 20 to hold material 1 against rollers 10 or 20 for an extended period of time. For example, if material 1 is wet, it may be wound on roller 10 and clamped in place with clamp 30 for several hours until dry by air, or for several minutes under heating.

Example embodiment roller 10 may be bent and held in nearly any shape without damaging hydrophilic foam 15 (FIGS. 2-3), because foam 15 is flexible and elastic without tearing. Similarly, clamp 30 may compress rollers 10 or 20 with fibers wound against foam 15 because of this elasticity and flexibility. If worn against the human body as shown in FIG. 5, hydrophilic foam 15 may additionally comfortably adapt and/or cushion against the body, reducing discomfort common in rigid hydrophobic foams.

Hydrophilic polyurethane foam 15 may be an open-foam or closed-foam flexible material fabricated by methods described in US Patent Publication 2013/03274363 published Oct. 17, 2013 to Horio, incorporated herein in its entirety. Several different cyanates and reactive streams can be used to create hydrophilic polyurethane foam 15, including cyanate streams of toluene diisocyanate (TDI), diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), and/or aliphatic polyisocynates like isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) or hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). The reactive stream may include not only polyols but other hydroxyl groups, as well as amino groups and carboxylic groups. With proper blowing agents, agitation of the streams, and cross-linking, foam 15 may be formed to an open-cell or closed-cell foam, film, or elastomer material.

For example, hydrophilic polyurethane foam 15 may be formed to approximately 32-120 kilograms per cubic meter to achieve desired weight and strength, while achieving and preserving resiliency under several, potentially hundreds, of cycles of bending and compression while supporting fibers wrapped around or compressed against the same. Hydrophilic polyurethane foam 15 is washable, non-peeling and non-flaking, and soft to the touch. Foam 15 is further odorless and non-toxic, and can be further cleansed and tested before use to ensure no manufacturing residue or other undesired substances are present.

Hydrophilic polyurethane foam 15 is further capable of carrying or absorbing, and conversely exuding, large proportions of liquid carriers or additives. For example, oils, lubricants, moisturizers, alcohols, and water may be carried in amounts up to 95% of total weight of foam 15 carrying the same. Nutrients, pH balancers, abrasives, surfactants, catalysts, aromas, colorants, pharmaceuticals, etc. may be carried in these liquids to achieve a desired effect on fibers wound thereon for extended period of times, as the liquid is exuded or eluted or otherwise absorbed from the holding foam 15.

For example, instead of a skin-conditioning agent as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,616 issued Nov. 2, 1999 to Celia, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, foam 15 may contain, and be saturated with, a sulphate hair conditioner, suspended keratin formulation, and aroma carried in a water base. Such conditioner may contact and condition a fiber 1 (FIG. 5) such as human hair in direct contact with, and even pressured against, foam 15. Or, for example, hydrophilic foam 15 may carry a moisturizing or shining oil, such as jojoba, coconut, avocado, olive, or argan oil, potentially with a soluble surfactant or pH balancer, that elutes from foam 15 into fiber 1 when contacted with fiber 1 for a sufficient period of time and/or under wet conditions, Example embodiment rollers 10 and 20 may include liquid additives in foam 15 at manufacturing, and/or a user or consumer may add desired liquids in an example method after purchasing or use.

In this way, example embodiment rollers 10 and 20 may be used to flexibly secure fibers in desired configurations for drying and/or treatment by liquids and carried substances in foam 15. For example, a user may simultaneously, set, dry, and condition his or her hair by wrapping the same around an example embodiment roller 10 or 20 with foam 15 carrying a desired conditioner, affixing or clamping the hair in place, and proceeding to dry the same. Unlike conventional foams used in rollers for as fast, hot drying with as little interaction as possible, example embodiment rollers 10 or 20 may more comfortably adapt and shape to the body for comfortable, long-term wear or even sleep wear while providing liquid absorption into contacting fiber for desired treatment over a longer time.

Some example embodiments and methods being described here and in the incorporated documents, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that example embodiments may be varied through routine experimentation and without further inventive activity. For example, although example embodiments describe hydrophilic polyurethane foams bearing desired liquids for human hair, it is understood that any fiber, including natural and synthetic fibers, may be shaped and treated by example embodiments. Variations are not to be regarded as departure from the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A roller for supporting fibers contacting the roller, the roller comprising: a base; a hydrophilic polyurethane foam surrounding the base and forming an outermost surface of the roller, wherein the hydrophilic polyurethane foam is elastic and flexible.
 2. The roller of claim 1, wherein the hydrophilic polyurethane foam has a density of approximately 32 to approximately 120 kilograms per cubic meter and a cellular foam structure capable of holding liquid.
 3. The roller of claim 2, wherein the hydrophilic polyurethane foam has a structure capable of holding up liquid that is approximately 95% total weight of the foam and liquid.
 4. The roller of claim 3, further comprising: liquid fiber treatment absorbed into the hydrophilic polyurethane foam, wherein the liquid accounts for approximately 95% of the combined weight of the foam and liquid.
 5. The roller of claim 4, wherein the liquid fiber treatment is an aqueous solution including at least one hair conditioning solute.
 6. The roller of claim 1, wherein the base is a flexible tube being bendable at least 180 degrees about an axis.
 7. The roller of claim 6, wherein the base is further configured to maintain its shape upon being bend by a human user, and wherein the hydrophilic polyurethane foam elastically conforms to the shape without failure.
 8. The roller of claim 7, wherein the roller is cylindrical with a diameter of approximately 0.25-4 inches.
 9. The roller of claim 1, wherein the roller and the hydrophilic polyurethane foam are cylindrical, and wherein the foam extends completely around the roller so as to form a complete outer surface of the roller except for ends of the roller.
 10. The roller of claim 1, further comprising: a conditioner absorbed into the hydrophilic polyurethane foam in a volume having a weight greater than a dry weight of the hydrophilic polyurethane foam, wherein the conditioner and foam are configured to exude the conditioner over time when directly contacted by a fiber.
 11. A method of treating and shaping a fiber or fibers, the method comprising: affixing the fiber or fibers directly to an outermost surface of a roller for supporting the fiber or fibers, wherein the roller includes, a base, and a hydrophilic polyurethane foam surrounding the base and forming the outermost surface of the roller, wherein the hydrophilic polyurethane foam is elastic and flexible.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the roller is cylindrical and wherein the affixing includes winding the fiber or fibers around a circumference of the roller.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: attaching a clamp over the fiber or fibers and the roller so as to compress the fiber or fibers against the hydrophilic polyurethane foam.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the clamp is a rigid, unmovable clamp shaped to extend around the circumference.
 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising: reshaping the base and the foam manually into a new shape, wherein the base and the foam hold the new shape following the reshaping.
 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising: drying the fiber or fibers in direct contact with the hydrophilic polyurethane foam.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the hydrophilic polyurethane foam has a density of approximately 32 to approximately 120 kilograms per cubic meter and a cellular foam structure holding a liquid that is approximately 95% total weight of the foam and liquid.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the fiber or fibers is a tress of human hair, and wherein the liquid is a conditioner that exudes over time into the tress.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein the fiber or fibers are wet, the method further comprising: drying the fiber or fibers in direct contact with the hydrophilic polyurethane foam.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the hydrophilic polyurethane foam has a density of approximately 32 to approximately 120 kilograms per cubic meter and a cellular foam structure holding a conditioner that is approximately 95% total weight of the foam and conditioner, and wherein the drying further includes exuding the conditioner from the hydrophilic polyurethane foam into the fiber or fibers during the drying. 